Diablo 2 Lord of Destruction, Kendra's Story
by cesmith
Summary: Just one battle of many for the young assassin Kendra.  Warnings: violence, language


Series: Diablo 2 Lord of Destruction

Title: Kendra's Story

Author: cesmith

Beta: narrizan

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Diablo 2 Lord of Destruction and all of its characters were created by Blizzard Entertainment. They belong to them and were used without prior permission. No profit is made through this story.

Summery: Just one battle of many for the young assassin Kendra.

A/N 1: This story was written for the 11th challenge on the ffnetauthors dot proboards29 dot com message board. It is a 2 part challenge. Part one, write a story as you normally would and then, part 2, go back and remove ALL the adverbs and adjectives and supply the precise verb or noun to say exactly what you want to say (MUCH harder than you would ever realize). Part 2 is posted on the Message Board. Please visit and read.

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Kendra looked out over The Stony Field, surveying the seemingly serene and quiet landscape. Nothing but rocks dotted the countryside where crops had once thrived. A few small clumps of trees and grass were all that now survived in fields that had once been vital and fertile. She could still see the stone walls that had formerly divided the farmland. Many of them were crumbling under the influence of the evil set in motion by Diablo's release. The air was heavy; the scent of evil tainted the breeze.

Breathing in and out slowly, nostrils flaring, Kendra tried to determine the direction the next wave of demons would be attacking from.

Her body twitched, facing toward the east. The dark demonic power emanated from that direction. A feral smile formed on her otherwise expressionless face, her assassin's bloodlust stirred as she realized the demons were headed in their direction.

This way," she whispered to Kyoko, who the moment Kendra had stopped had begun preparing for a possible attack. Kendra nodded in approval. Kyoko was young but she was already a seasoned warrior. She had proven herself to be a more than capable fighter.

As a Rogue, Kyoko had fought against the first wave of Diablo's demon hordes at Tristram, and survived.

When it had been offered, she had refused the temptation of Diablo's evil power that so many of her comrades had succumbed to.

And though she had known nothing about Kendra, other than she had passed Kashya's challenge to kill Bloodraven, the former Captain of the Rogues who had been seduced by Andariel's power, she had pledged her loyalty to Kendra, mind and body. Kyoko was one of the very few citizens of the world willing to lay their life on the line to help rid humanity of the demons' insidious threat.

'Stupid woman,' Kendra had thought at the time, wondering what Kyoko's ulterior motive had been.

Now, after weeks of fighting side-by-side, she knew that Kyoko had no concealed agenda, other than a desire to help others and to set things right. Kyoko's reason for taking up her weapon was simple and pure, a true heroes' cause.

Kendra's motive was darker - personal power, pure and simple. She wanted power, so much power that her body couldn't possibly be able to contain it. So much power that she would feel as though she was going to explode if she received any more, and then she wanted even more. Since she didn't expect to survive this war, she had no plans on how she would use it. Raw power was intoxicating, addictive, and corruptive.

Somehow the two of them made a great pair, complimenting each other's fighting attributes and temperament. They each had pulled the other's ass out of danger more times than either of them could count.

Kendra and her partner moved silently through the few trees that dotted the bleak scenery. At the edge of the small copse she waved to Kyoko to halt, wanting her to use the undergrowth as camouflage in the coming battle.

Kendra could now hear the chatter of the lesser demons and the clicking of the reanimated skeletal mages' dried bones. They were not far away, perhaps just beyond one of the stone fences.

Crouching in the trees meager protection she momentarily closed her eyes as she breathed deeply through her mouth, centering herself, as she gathered her own magical strength and wrapped it around her. She readied her weapons as the first Carver came into view. It was a scouting party.

Still squatted, Kendra stealthily crept forward out of the trees, advancing on that first small cluster of demons. Unfortunately for them, they didn't even realize she was there. She took great care to let none of the scouts escape her sharp blades, lest they warn the rest. But they were much too easy. She struck and with a flick of her left hand, she killed two. The third turned to run, but he was mortally wounded as she sliced out with her right hand. She didn't even have to pursue him; the poison on her blade killed him after only a few steps. None of them had managed to utter a sound.

Then she waited but a few breathes of time and a swell of demons came round the wall to face her.

As she lunged into the opening fray she caught sight of the boss located at the heart of the group, his minions forming a wall of living flesh around him. Kendra snorted at that thought. She used the term living flesh loosely since most of them were resurrected skeletons and zombie henchmen.

She attacked in a blur of movement as her arms spun in a deadly dance of motion. Gracefully extending her arms and flicking her wrists she ended the life of not one, not two but dozens of the small creatures.

Too many more kept coming.

Behind her, Kendra could hear the constant twang of Kyoko's bowstring. Off to her right she heard the juicy thunk of an arrow striking one of the Dark Rangers. She grinned as she killed one of her own creatures and watched in irritation as the fallen body glowed with an eerie green light and then rose to fight her again.

'Shit,' she thought, 'a Carver Shaman.' Looking around, she found him, far removed from the battle, working his re-animation magic. Carver Shaman were physically weak creatures, a few quick cuts would end their lives easily, but the fire magic they wielded could scorch the skin off your body.

Kendra turned in that direction as another Carver rose to continue fighting her. She drew upon her own talent, the power she had labeled Fade. It was a skill her Master had taught her to deflect the physical damage caused by the magics. When she used this ability; fire, poison, ice and lightning still affected her, still harmed her, but the effects were considerably lessened.

When the Shaman Carver saw Kendra coming he called all the Carvers and Devil Kins to his side and then turned to run, leaving his underlings to do his dirty work. With her destination clear, Kendra cut a path through the demons, concentrating on taking the Carver Shaman out first. The resurrected monsters cut at her back and legs with their swords as she hurried past them.

As she reached him he let loose with his spell. The fire shot toward Kendra, the force of the contact alone was nearly enough to slow her down. Her skin tingled and small puss filled blisters formed on her face and arms, but her Fade spell held most of that terrible power at bay. She killed him as easily as she had expected, with a stabbing thrust of her weapon followed by a sharp vicious twist. Then she stepped back to watch as he slowly died from her poison.

As the body dropped her attention became focused once more on the minions. She hacked her way through them rapidly. Without their master to revive them they were as weak as he had been. Each of their deaths replaced a little of her own life force the horde had managed to steal from her through the small, blood-oozing puncture wounds that covered much of her body. The stored energy from the attacks throbbed through her body, screaming to be released.

And released it would be when she killed the monsters' leader. She channeled all that power into her weapons and Fade and barreled into the main group of monsters bellowing her battle cry, heading straight for the boss. He met her in a clash of power. Her Gemmed Hatchet Hands glinted in the sun as she raised them to strike but the demon countered with his monstrous club, blocking her attack and landing a powerful blow of his own. Her shoulder went numb from the contact and Kendra retreated a few steps to give herself some fighting room. The demon pursued her, swinging again, this time connecting with her helmet. The ringing sound echoed across the battlefield, followed by Kendra's shout of rage at herself for allowing her adversary to land not one but two blows.

Kendra moved back further and then went down, tripping over a rock on the uneven battlefield. Over-confident that his opponent was helpless; the demon raised his club, channeling lightning from the heavens. Bolts shot out of the weapon and straight toward Kendra. She felt every nerve in her body tingle as though on fire, unable to control some of the spasms that swept through her body. But luck was with her again and Fade held. She pressed her advantage and jabbed upward, her claws catching the monster in the abdomen. She shoved her claws in and with a side-wise motion she dug four deep furrows in his skin. He dropped, writhing on the ground, struggling to raise the club for yet another lightning strike. Kendra struck one last time, burying the talons into his throat and he ceased to struggle.

She rose, quickly, panting from the exertion and pain just as the remaining minions surrounded her and attacked as one. She grinned brutally at her enemies and lost herself to the bloodlust that was consuming her. Gods, she loved the power as it coursed through her, caressed her skin, stole her mind of all reason. All that existed for her in that moment was death. Only when others died did she feel so alive. The blood of the demons covered her, coated her weapon, soaked into her clothes. It didn't disturb her, or sicken her. Blood was life, blood was power and though she didn't really care whose blood it was, as long as it wasn't her own (In her sane moments that was true, but when she was under the bloodlust she didn't care either way.). She justified each massacre in the name of justice, to the holy purpose of freeing the hapless world from the corrupting influences of the Three Brothers: Diablo, Mephisto and Baal along with the hordes of demons they had brought with them into the human world. She justified her actions and killed all in her sight.

The pounding in her ears slowly subsided, lowering to a gentle pulse. She glanced around the battlefield as she realized how unearthly quiet it had become. In the dirt lay pieces of her enemies and their blood. There was too much blood for even the drought starved land to soak up and it formed puddles on the uneven terrain. Gold, armor and weapons littered the ground, spoils for the victor. These items would help finance her quests. She may be saving the world but the good citizens gave her precious little free. A few traders even gouged their prices, calling it gambling.

With a guilty thought she looked around and spotted Kyoko leaning over, throwing up.

'Good,' Kendra thought. 'Perhaps she will retain her humanity even with all the slaughter she will be forced to commit.'

Kendra watched her for a moment, allowing her privacy to finish being ill and then approached her. Being a user of bows was definitely a plus for Kyoko, her clothes were nearly blood free and she appeared to have no major wounds.

They greeted warmly, both happy the other had survived the battle. The minute Kyoko saw Kendra's many wounds she reached into her travel pouch and took out supplies to treat them. Once upon a time Kendra would have refused the help, now she suffered in silence, for the first time enjoying the company of another human being.

Kendra watched Kyoko as she worked, realizing with amazement that she really wanted Kyoko to survive this war between Heaven, Earth and Hell. She was one of the few that truly deserved the world that would be with the Brothers' deaths. Kendra had no fear of facing her own death, if she died there were countless other heroes who could and would carry on her campaign against the evil spreading over the world. She had met several in towns and had appropriated armor, weapons and gold from scores of unlucky corpses. Only time would tell how things worked out.

Kyoko put the last of the healing salve onto Kendra's arm, wrapping it with bandages. "You look like one of the zombies now." She joked.

Kendra worked hard not to smile, keeping her features stern and angry. 'Maybe I can find a stronger hero, a true Champion, to indenture her to. That might keep her safe.' Kendra thought. Out loud she said, "Let's go."

And they moved on.

A/N: I've been playing Diablo since the original came out in 1996. It's hard to believe it's been around that long. Here's hoping someday for a Diablo 3.


End file.
